Roses dedicated at Mission Church as memorial for victims of September 11

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept.25, 2002 – Four rose bushes planted outside the Mission Santa Clara de Asis today were blessed as memorials to the victims of the September 11 terror attacks, as prayers for peace echoed at the Santa Clara University campus.

Deborah Borza, mother of SCU junior Deora Bodley who died when Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania on Sept.11, stood on the steps of the Mission Church and read from The Book of Micah, reading "they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks." Approximately 180 friends, family, students, faculty, and staff attended the 4:30 p.m. service, including several students from nearby St. Clare School, where Bodley had been a tutor.

SCU President Paul Locatelli, S.J., dedicated the roses, which are marked by a brass plaque:

A Peach Sunset Celebration rose commemorates Deora Bodley.

A white Pascali rose honors Capt. Lawrence D. Getzfred, USN, class of 1971, who was killed in the September 11 attack on the Pentagon.

A pink Our Lady of Guadalupe rose honors all others who died in the attacks and the rescue workers at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Mario Prietto, S.J., director of Campus Ministry, blessed the roses, saying: "May the beauty and fragility of these roses serve as a reminder to all of us of the preciousness of the lives that were lost – those commemorated on the plaque and all who suffered as a result of those acts of hate. May they remind us as well that goodness is greater than evil, love stronger than hate."

Santa Clara University, a comprehensive Jesuit, Catholic university located in California's Silicon Valley, offers its 7,500 students rigorous undergraduate curricula in arts and sciences, business, and engineering, plus master's and law degrees. Distinguished nationally by the fifth-highest graduation rate among all U.S. master's universities, California's oldest higher-education institution demonstrates faith-inspired values of ethics and social justice. More information is

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